Northwest Gallery

Northwest Gallery

The gallery is framed by two large murals over its doorways, War and Peace,
both by the artist Gari Melchers (1860-1932).

War portrays a chieftain of a primitive culture returning home with his
fellow warriors from a successful but dearly won battle. He is crowned with a
wreath of laurel and sits proudly astride a magnificent white horse. Warriors
carry a roughly constructed stretcher on which they are bringing home the body
of a fallen comrade for burial in his native soil. A woman kneels to care for a
wounded warrior.

Peace shows a religious procession. The inhabitants of a village have come
to the border of a grove bearing on a platform the image of their guardian
goddess. The villagers carry various objects and lead a sacrificial bull to be
offered as memorials to the goddess in thanks for peace. At the left a priest
reads a blessing.

Photography by Carol M. Highsmith.

Peace

Peace shows a religious procession. The inhabitants of a
village have come to the border of a grove bearing on a platform the
image of their guardian goddess. The villagers carry various objects
and lead a sacrificial bull to be offered as memorials to the goddess
in thanks for peace. At the left a priest reads a blessing.

War

War portrays a chieftain of a primitive culture returning
home with his fellow warriors from a successful but dearly won battle.
He is crowned with a wreath of laurel and sits proudly astride a
magnificent white horse. Warriors carry a roughly constructed stretcher
on which they are bringing home the body of a fallen comrade for burial
in his native soil. A woman kneels to care for a wounded warrior.

Barrel Vault ceiling with 'CL'

The ceiling, twenty nine feet high with square coffers in blue and
gold, is divided by ribs that spring from the paired pilasters. The
medallions with the letters "C.L." stand for "Congressional Library,"
the name by which the Library of Congress was still popularly known
when the new building was first opened in 1897.